2011 MAGIC Trade Show

We sent Jettribe’s president, Tony Vo out to the MAGIC Trade Show. Jettribe goes twice a year to check out the season’s fashion shows and see some friends in the fashion industry at the same time. It’s worth keeping updated with the latest trends and ideas. Hey, it’s in Vegas- life is tough!

So what is this event all about? The MAGIC trade show is “the preeminent trade event in the international fashion industry, hosting global buyers and sellers of men’s, women’s and children’s apparel, footwear, accessories and sourcing resources.”

Another good question is: just who is MAGIC? MAGIC is described as “an incubator of fashion…where new trends surface and develop into what will be seen on the consumer. The show’s goal is to connect and inspire the fashion community, fuse diverse trends, while offering unbeatable service to its customers.”

Long story short, MAGIC is where it’s at and we’re excited to be going to this event! It should be awesome…and Vegas makes it even better!

And now that we’re back from the trade show we’ll give you a rundown on our experience. It was crazy to see so many hot babes in one place! But what is not so cool is that most of the babes probably have never been on a watercraft.

We definitely had a blast, but most of our time was spent attending and sitting in lots of meetings and discussion panels. Even though Jettribe is a Core Watercraft Co, we do our best to stay in tune with the fashion industry. Plus, most of the Jettribe staff here came from a fashion background and our parent company produces for some of the top brands in the industry. Brands including: Hurley, Diesel, O’ Neal, and so on..... So we have to be pretty much on our game as far as the latest and greatest of trends and colors schemes for the next season.

Tony had a chance to sit and chat with some of the industry’s top brands and collectively express views on some alarming issues that are coming down the pipeline. We are all very concerned to see the increasing cost in raw materials and labor out of Southeast Asia! In the last 15 years we have not seen such unpredictable costs. In the next 12 months we have no idea what our prices will be from Southeast Asia. What does this mean to the Jettribe end user? Higher costs for your boardshorts and riding boots. Jettribe is a true international company, we have our own Asia operation for over 10 years and we watch the fluctuation of the US dollars compared to the cost of cotton to the prices for crude oil. Why? We want to bring the best riding gear to you for the best prices.

It was a true honor for Tony of Jettribe to sit and chat with Tyler "President and CEO" of ARC'TERYX, a top outdoor gear company. With their annual sales well over 130,000 million dollars, they make Jettribe in comparison look like a Girl Scout and lemonade stand!! Plus, to hang out with Michael "COO" of a very large firm that owns a bunch of fashion brands like XOXO, Babyphat, and PhatPharm is an eye opener. Kellwood is a true monster with sales of $850 million last year.

Not only was Tony truly inspired by these great brands and their enormous success. But what is really great is that these guys are very approachable and so down to earth. We mostly talked about our true passion for the work that we do and our family and kids. When it comes down to it, brands big or small all experience the same issues of building, growing and struggles.

Time spent with these top industry associates has given Jettribe a huge boost in the future of our core brand! Watch out, there will be many great things coming down the pipeline for Jettribe and our watercraft industry.